Category: Editorials

This Week In Review: Pledge This


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I hate clip shows, so much that I’ve never given much bother to a weekly wrapup here at MMO Fallout. So instead of devoting the week in review to reestablishing topics we’ve already talked about, I want to give some time to pieces that I did not cover. So let’s check out the news, shall we?

Sony is being sued over Killzone on PS4 not delivering native 1080p in multiplayer. What the game does is it scales up what is technically not really 1080p to deliver a final output that is technically 1080p. If you’re going to sue a game developer, there are many other instances that would have been a better case to make. Game developers have been lying about graphics and performance since the days when they’d stick arcade screenshots on the case of NES ports. This is in no way a defense of Sony, but I have a feeling that they will win this lawsuit because the question of “native” comes down to multiple definitions that exist in the industry.

Meawhile, Activision has hired a level 80 necromancer to revive the years-dead Sierra. Sierra is the developer responsible for the Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Space/King/Police Quests, Homeworld, and Timeshift. They shut down in 2008 when Activision merged with Vivendi, but it appears that Activision is now interested in bringing them back. Boy are the guys at Sierra going to be disappointed when they see what Spyro has become.

Wing Commander 3 is available for free via Origin “On The House.” If you’ve never played this game, and our younger viewers won’t have, Wing Commander 3 is a dogfighting game released in 1994 and stars not Han Solo and not Chewbacca. Grab the game for free and keep it in your account forever, or until EA goes under in 2025.

And speaking of misleading advertising, Codemasters is offering refunds on Colin McRae Racing after gamers purchased what they thought was an HD remake on Steam only to find that what Codemasters was offering was in fact a port of a mobile game. Refunds will be available until August 19th, after which you’re on your own.

And finally Dead or Alive released a DLC pack which introduces “bed and bath” outfits to the players. The outfits are just as creepy and voyeuristic as you’d expect from Dead or Alive.

Tune in next week as we discuss why your favorite childhood icons weren’t as great as you remember.

MMOrning Shots: High Finance


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from, well, me. Those of you who follow MMOrning Shots know that I occasionally use this as a platform to make website announcements. Last year I ran a Lineage of Support for NCSoft, and I planned on integrating this into the website on a more permanent basis. One thing led to another, I got busy, and the details were never hashed out.

I’ve long wanted MMO Fallout to have more resources available to viewers, and compiling some of the more business-focused pieces of content is step one in accomplishing that goal. Part of that step is to make sure that said content has more publicity than a simple post on the front page that is obscured after a day or two.

I will have more details likely next week. Check out MMOrning Shots on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

MMOrning Shots: Bioshock Nostalgia


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from 2K Games. Bioshock released in 2007 on PC and Xbox 360, but the screenshot above was sent out more than a year prior. Later this summer, you’ll be able to get your hands on Bioshock on your iPhone or iPad.

Nostalgia it up with MMOrning Shots every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Week In Review: Sony Offline Entertainment


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I’ve discovered a newfound love for Ultima Forever. Once you carve out the ridiculous cash shop mechanics, get rid of gear degradation, and drop gold keys like they’re candy, the game is a lot of fun to play. It’s almost disappointing that Electronic Arts will be shutting down Ultima Forever on August 29th, but it’s hard to say that it wasn’t deserved. Mythic Entertainment will best be known for Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online, the latter being much beloved by its fans despite its commercial failings, its other recent ventures (Wrath of Heroes, Ultima Forever, Dungeon Keeper Mobile) will likely fade into obscurity.

Naturally, when it rains it pours. This week also marked the sunsetting of two more Sony Online Entertainment titles. I can’t say I was entirely surprised when SOE revealed that Vanguard couldn’t be fixed due to issues deep within the game’s engine. Vanguard was a collection of great ideas implemented rather shoddily on a foundation made of crepe paper. The idea that the game wasn’t runing a profit is hardly surprising when you factor in that the game spent so long in a dormant state that, in 2011, it was a massive surprise just to see the game getting patched. Vanguard did go free to play, but the response was meek at best.

Wizardry Online, on the other hand, will continue to live on in its native Japan. Depending on how they view the market, Gamepot may either decide to open up a global server or bring on a different publisher to host Wizardry Online in North America and Europe. Given the game’s tepid response under Sony Online Entertainment, however, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Finally, this week also saw the announcement that DUST 514 would be shutting down its Oceanic servers due to players taking advantage of the low population to boost their accounts.

Firefall launched this week, a sentence I never honestly saw myself getting the chance to say. NCSoft continues to add more races and classes to Lineage II with the latest expansion, despite the game’s age and waning profit. And finally pigs have officially grown wings and made me breakfast using their own bacon, because Square Enix has opened up 14-day trials for Final Fantasy XIV.

I plan to wrap up every Week in Review with a piece from MMO Fallout history.

This Week in 2009: On The Brink: Planetside

Planetside, touted as the first true MMOFPS, takes yet another turn towards its ultimate demise, with the announcement that the game’s two servers will finally merge into one, to deal with lacking population. The original five servers have gradually closed and merged, and currently the game houses two servers; One North American and one European.

As far as MMO’s go, server closure is one of the first lines of defense in keeping a game alive. When empty servers spread players thinly, forcing them into a smaller space will give an illusion of player count, and may inspire ex-players to jump back into the renewed action, creating a snowball effect that brings more and more players to the game.

Sadly, if history has taught us anything, it is that this mantra will more than likely fail for Planetside, a game that has been on a downward slope for years now. Planetside’s status as pioneer in MMOFPS action, massive scale battles, and focus on skills above levels, will not help it in its fall from grace.

The merge will go ahead on August 25th. Once Planetside is consolidated on to one server, it is anyone’s guess as to how long it has to live afterwards.

MMOrning Shots: Silicon Valley


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from Defiance, where Trion Worlds is set to release the Silicon Valley expansion on August 5th. Free for all players, Silicon Valley finally expands the zone of the game. Players will come across Grid as well as the Pilgrims of the Guiding Light, a strange new cult. Currently free to play on PC, Defiance is still set to go free to play on PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime this year.

MMOrning Shots expands every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

MMOrning Shots: All Points Bulletin


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from All Points Bulletin, a piece of artwork sent out to the press way back in 2005. Fun fact: Realtime Worlds imposed an embargo on reviews that lasted one week after the launch of the game. They told us that the reasoning was so we could experience the full effect of player customized vehicles and mayhem. As it turned out, all of the customization in the world couldn’t make All Points Bulletin an enjoyable game, or a profitable one because Realtime Worlds went bankrupt and shut the game down just a few months later.

Review embargoes leading up to launch day are suspect enough, an embargo lasting past launch day should be a red light to stay very far away.

Whatever Happened To: Hellgate 2


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I know what you’re thinking: There was a Hellgate 2? Technically no, which is why we are here in the first place. I had absolutely no idea that a Hellgate 2 was in development, partly because it was announced way back in 2011 and we haven’t heard anything about it since. Set to appear on the Unreal 3 engine, Hanbitsoft announced that the sequel has been canned for a myriad of reasons, not least of which being an inability to work with the Unreal 3 engine. The game was originally supposed to launch in Winter 2013, which again flew right over our heads here at MMO Fallout, and naturally missed said deadline.

Hanbitsoft took over global development of Hellgate: London following the demise of developer Flagship Studios, and even managed to put out an expansion pack called Hellgate: Tokyo. There hasn’t been any further development in the last couple of years.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Become Dragonborn in Neverwinter


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Neverwinter’s Module 4: Tyranny of the Dragons is set to launch on August 14th, but Perfect World Entertainment has been filling that time by slowly revealing what is to come. We learned last week that the next class to be released is the Scourge Warlock. In a news post released today, Neverwinter has revealed that Module 4 will also introduce a new race to Neverwinter: The Dragonborn.

The Dragonborn are just that, children of the dragon god who have removed their shackles and embraced freedom. The only way to get your hands on the Dragonborn Race at the moment is by purchasing an expensive DLC package for $75 USD, regular price $99.

(Source: Neverwinter)